Fullerometallic ion chemistry: Reactions of C60Fe+ and C20H10Fe+ in the gas phase

Fe+ has been attached to buckminsterfullerene, C-60, and corannulene, C20H1 0, in the gas phase, and the reactivities of C60Fe+ and C20H10Fe+ have been measured with several small inorganic and organic molecules in helium bath gas at 0.35 Torr using a selected-ion flow tube (SIFT) mass spectrometer. Comparisons with measured reactivities of the bare Fe+ ion indicate that th e presence of Co and C20H10 leads to enhancements in reactivity at room tem perature of up to 5 orders of magnitude. Ligation was the only chemistry ob served with D-2, N-2, CO2, CH4, C2H2, C2H4, SO2, C6D6, NH3, H2O, and CO, bu t other channels were observed to compete with adduct formation in the reac tions with N2O and O-2. The number of molecules sequentially ligated to the ion was different: up to five molecules of ligand added sequentially to Fe +, up to four molecules of ligand were observed to attach to C60Fe+, while only up to three molecules added to C20H10Fe+. C-60 and C20H10+ were observ ed to be unreactive toward the same ligands. The kinetic results show the i nfluence of carbonaceous surfaces on metal ion reactivity and are interpret ed in terms of the nature of the coordination of Fe+ to the carbonaceous su rface. Catalytic effects of the carbonaceous surfaces were identified for t he reactions with N2O and O-2.